Helena Rubinstein used guile, brilliant branding, and more than a few falsehoods to lift cosmetics from an accessory for prostitutes to a desired luxury item. Geoffrey Jones reveals her history.
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A study by Boris Vallee and Yao Zeng says savvy investors on peer-to-peer lending platforms are upsetting a delicate balance that makes those systems work for borrowers.
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Structured products are an innovative class of retail financial products with option-like features. This paper provides empirical evidence suggesting that innovative financial products like these can help alleviate loss aversion and thus the low participation of households in risky asset markets.

More than 14,800 professors at United States colleges and universities —including some 50 Nobel laureates— signed a petition opposing President Donald Trump’s Executive Order on immigration. Signatories from Harvard Business School explain their opposition.
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A new study by Boris Vallée and Christophe Pérignon offers evidence that local politicians in France (and probably elsewhere) used high-risk loans for political gain in the years leading up to the recent financial crisis. The strategy worked: Toxic loans helped mayors get reelected.
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A recent study by Claire Célérier and Boris Vallée finds that the French finance industry compensates employees largely according to how talented they are. Other high-paying industries? Not so much.
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